


What Now?

by htsoldierette



Category: PIERCE Tamora - Works, Protector of the Small - Tamora Pierce, Tortall - Tamora Pierce
Genre: F/M, Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-06-30
Updated: 2014-08-02
Packaged: 2018-02-06 22:35:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 19,989
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1874964
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/htsoldierette/pseuds/htsoldierette
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>While Neal focuses on his forthcoming marriage to Yuki, Kel notices a change in one of her old friends when she and Neal visit Masbolle after the Scanran War is over.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Masbolle

The treaty ending the Scanran War was signed two months ago.  The months following up to the armistice saw a steady decrease of aggression from the Scanrans, as Maggur was quickly losing support from his own nobles, who were beginning to assassinate each other.  Tortallan soldiers and officials alike could only hope that one of them would end it and kill Maggur himself, elusive as he was in the cold, mountainous depths of Scanra.  War-weary knights, King’s Own and Royal Army soldiers, and Queen’s Riders alike were more than relieved finally to be cleaning up and heading home after two grueling years on the Northern and coastal borders.  As a result, many of these warriors were given up to three months’ reprieve.

Of the knights included Sir Nealan of Queenscove and Lady Knight Keladry of Mindelan, riding together on the Great Road North one late June afternoon.  With them rode five of Kel’s sparrow-sentry-companions and the dog Jump.  Her manservant, Tobe, usually nitpicky about sticking by his mistress’s side, was beginning his first formal horse magic studies with Daine the Wildmage in Corus.

“When do you reckon we’ll get to Masbolle?” Neal asked, staring at the sun.

“Pining, Meathead?” Kel quipped with a smirk.

Neal pulled his indignant noble’s face, though it was quite half-hearted. “You and Dom both, always neglecting the title which befits my station,” he proclaimed, nose in the air.

Keeping her face straight, she replied, “But I don’t call you Sir Neal all the time, so wouldn’t Sir Meathead be too formal for your lordship?”

This time the face he made was wholehearted.  “Your tone borders on insubordination, dear friend.”

“Oh, am I the insubordinate one?”

He grimaced. “It’s too hot for this kind of talk,” he growled.

Kel couldn’t help but grin at him.  They’d been through so much together, not only growing up, but most importantly, as comrades in arms.  Though she’d kept up a pretense of disapproval at his “haring off” to Scanra after her, she was deeply moved by his and the rest of her friends’ decision to follow her to what seemed to be the ends of the earth.

Both Kel and Neal were headed to Queenscove for his and Yuki’s wedding in July.  Yuki had left Fort Steadfast for Queenscove with her future father-in-law, Duke Baird, while the knights reported in person to the king back in Corus.  Now Kel and Neal were passing through Masbolle to visit Neal’s least-favorite aunt’s family.  

Suddenly Jump, who trotted ahead of the riders, barked and bolted down the road.  Alarmed, the knights traded glances and sped off after the dog, hands on their weapons.  However safely these knights were tucked away from the northern border, the unpleasant surprises of war taught them not to ignore their instincts.

On the road up ahead a rider too far to identify rode straight toward them.  Jump, between the two parties, was joined by a familiar orange-and-gray marble cat.

“Dom!” Kel cried, and nudged Hoshi faster down the road.  Neal followed, only a hoofbeat behind.

Laughing, Domitan of Masbolle reined in his mount, Dancer, before the pair of animals and riders.

“Excited to see me, lady knight? Your birdies fetched me rather eagerly.”  Indeed Nari and two of Kel’s other sparrows flew in after him.  “Meathead,” Dom remarked, seeming to just notice his cousin.

Neal rolled his eyes and replied exasperatedly, “Good to see you, too, _cousin_.”  Dom grinned infuriatingly as Kel, too, rolled her eyes.  She remembered that time almost two years ago when their sarcastic banter came to be too much for those around them.  It was just before Lord Raoul and Buri’s wedding, and Kel and a couple of their other friends made the cousins promise that they could at least act civilized until then. However, like most disciples of Mischief, they could make no promises.

Seeing her eyeroll, Dom winked at her.  She fought for the millionth time her battle against blushing at the merest twinkle in his eye, the barest brush of his arm against hers, or— _Gods willing_ —that sly grin and wink.  _Maybe it’s the upcoming wedding_ , she told herself _. Weddings always make people giddy._   Kel responded by asking, “When did you get here?”

“A week ago,” he replied, fixing her with very warm blue eyes.  Then he looked down.  “Queen, the road dust isn’t suited to your taste. Come up.”  His orange cat Queen jumped up onto Dancer and nestled against Dom’s saddle horn, beginning to wash herself.  He chuckled and looked at Kel and Neal.  “Come on, then.  Mother wants to meet you.”

They rode for less than a quarter of a bell before the Masbolle manor came into view.  Kel almost gaped.  It was old-fashioned in a magnificent way—reminiscent of its old heritage—its towers washed in white and buttresses trimmed in pale blue.  It sat in the heart of a small, fertile valley.  Before the house was a sprawling village—a town, really.  Those who bustled about did so with vitality, dignity, and pride.  These were a prosperous people.

The three warriors took a side road that hugged the town.  Within, people paused in their tasks to wave and call out to their new lord and his friends.  Kel couldn’t help but smile as Dom waved and called back.  Neal looked taken aback but pleased nonetheless. The people of Masbolle did not fear their nobles but rather respected them. Kel was reminded of the too few Tortallan fiefs of which the same could be said.

All the while Kel managed to study Dom.  She told herself that she was not so much admiring the view than looking out for his health.  True, she saw the same impossibly and quite unfairly handsome Dom she knew, but something was wrong.

His friendly blue eyes were dark-rimmed, and his mouth seemed less liable to grin. _What’s this?_ she wondered.  Dom was one of the most easygoing men she knew.  Then she remembered.  Dom had recently lost his remaining older brother, Nolann, in the war.  Indeed, Dom was wearing the black of mourning garb.  _Poor Dom, losing all those family members—his father and two older brothers—and becoming lord because of it, when he already has the Own_ , Kel thought, sad for all the harsh new changes in her friend’s life.

In the courtyard of the house a man and three women awaited them.  All were wearing the black clothes of mourning, but their faces wore expressions otherwise.  Two of the women were definitely Dom’s family.  The other woman and the man were decidedly not, though they looked related to each other.  They all stepped forward as the riders approached.

Dismounting, Kel heard the man remark amusedly, “—Dom, I didn’t even notice you left until Luce asked me—”

“—never knew a man to run after _birds_.”

It took a moment for Kel to recognize that not-so-subtle sneer.  It seemed like so long ago that she’d heard it.  And back then, that sneer was directed at Kel, particularly her ineligibility to find a husband.  She looked up to find the voice.  Sure enough, with Dom’s family stood Doanna of Fenrigh.  She was glaring as she returned Kel’s steady gaze.

Neal was down from his horse, Magewhisper, first and greeted his extended family.  Kel only heard Neal’s “least favorite aunt”—Kel figured—call him “Nealan” before she was caught up in a warm embrace.

“I’ve missed you, Kel,” Dom whispered in her ear.  She clung back, and over his shoulder she watched as a hostler led Hoshi away to the stables. the Dom she knew—and introduced her to his family.  His brother-in-law, Madrigol of Fenrigh, whose brother Emmet both Kel and Dom were acquainted with from the Own, raised straight brown brows over onyx eyes and smiled as he shook Kel’s hand.  Madrigol’s wife, Dom’s sister Lucetta of Fenrigh—with her brother’s friendly blue eyes, her mother’s deep brown hair, and beauty even in only a plain black dress—greeted Kel in kind.  In hindsight, Dom’s mother—whose lined but comely face, gray-streaked chestnut hair, and light, vibrant green eyes that contrasted with her stark clothes—was the most thrilled to meet her.

“Welcome to Masbolle, Lady Knight Keladry!” Lady Darinia said, taking one of Kel’s scarred hands in her own smooth ones. “I know you’ll love it here. Though I know you’re not here to sightsee, precisely...” Kel smiled and thanked the lady.  Evidently Lady Darinia accepted her much more readily than did the mothers of her _other_ male friends.  “My son has written so much about you in his letters home,” Darinia continued, looking at Kel sidelong.  “Dom doesn’t know—yet—but I’d hoped you’d be interested—”

“Please, Dom, spare me!” a loud voice teased.  While Kel and Dom’s mother talked, Doanna had drifted over—evidently—to flirt with Dom and even Neal.  But Neal had other plans.

“Aunt Darinia, I don’t believe I can handle staying here for a whole week if that female Stormwing is,” Neal drawled quietly, coming over.

Lady Darinia sighed. “Now, Nealan,”—she smirked as Neal’s frown deepened—“you know she’s got nowhere else to go without being bored out of her mind at home in Meron.  So she tags along with your cousin and cousin-in-law, especially”—she grimaced slightly—“when they visit Masbolle.”  Then she smiled.  “But there.  You can’t be leaving us already, you haven’t visited in over 10 years!”  She cuffed Neal lightly on the shoulder.

Neal rubbed the spot, scowling darkly.  “Alas, I endure what I must.”

The hostlers took charge of the new arrivals’ mounts.  Peachblossom, Kel’s ever-agreeable old warhorse, pulled a tendon in one of the last skirmishes of the war and was presently recovering in Corus.  The good ol’ fellow, Tobe had said, deserved the break.  Kel agreed wholeheartedly.

As the rest of the family promised to meet them later for supper after the knights had settled in, Dom swung open heavy, polished ebony doors to admit the knights to his home.

“Well, my noble knights, welcome to my humble abode,” Dom announced, spreading his arms in a dramatic flourish to include their surroundings.  The manor’s interior was just as lovely as its exterior, except it was startlingly modern: smooth marble floors, high-domed ceilings, elegantly comfortable furniture, and tall, ornate Marenite windows veiled by flyaway white curtains.

Dom politely waved the servants away.  He turned to his guests and said, “Mademoiselle Keladry, Sir Meathead, allow me to show you to the bathhouses, or shall it be your rooms first? Perhaps a bite to eat would serve—”

Kel elbowed him. “Stop it. I’ve heard enough of that on the road.” She looked pointedly at Neal, who was too worn to do anything but glare.

Dom chuckled.  “Oh, my poor grumpy guests. You have my sympathies.  But what shall it be, hmm?”

“ _Perhaps_ we could have baths drawn up in our rooms,” Neal drawled tiredly. Kel agreed.

“Very good, Sir Meathead, Lady Knight, if you’ll follow me?”


	2. Of Bets and Balconies

That evening, the knights supped with the Masbolle family. Neal knew from his previous visits what Kel found out that night: the Masbolles ate together whenever they were home. Kel knew that this was not the case for many noble families, so she was interested to discover that out of all the quirks in Masbolle's management, this was one of them.

She also found that the servants decided who sat where at the dining table.

Thus, she found herself seated with Doanna at her left and Madrigol at her right on one side of the long dining table, Dom and Lucetta at the right and left ends, respectively. Opposite her sat Lady Darinia, seated on Neal's left. On Darinia's other side was Lucetta and Madrigol's effervescent three-year-old daughter, Rosalee, seated crosswise from her mother.

The Masbolles and Fenrighs talked leisurely. Neal contributed his fair share to the conversation, and Kel did so when she could. Doanna, at least, withheld any less-than-civil remarks regarding Kel. In fact, the lady actually made eye contact with the lady knight without glaring. _That must be a good sign_ , Kel thought with a mental shrug.

As the meal progressed, Kel settled into the comfortable atmosphere that Lady Darinia seemed to exude just as easily as her son did. Lucetta and her husband were polite in asking after Kel's health, among other things. Their daughter Rosalee—nicknamed Rose or Rosy—was gifted with a seemingly infinite capacity for making others laugh, Kel included. And Rosy's laugh had to be the most infectious laugh Kel had ever heard. Truth to tell, Kel could barely notice that they all had just lost one of their own in the war—two including Doanna's husband, Sir Geoffrey of Meron. When Neal told Kel that bit of news, which he got from his grieving former knight-mistress, Kel couldn't help but sympathize with Doanna, regardless of her feelings toward her.

Kel also found that Jump had, sometime during the course of the meal, managed to wheedle food from Dom. She mouthed "scapegrace" to her hound. Dom saw her and muffled a laugh. She soon found herself offering tidbits to Dom's Queen under the table.

After dinner, Ladies Darinia and Doanna retired to their rooms while the rest of them moved to the sitting room. Kel had the fleeting suspicion that Lady Darinia was of a mind to matchmake Doanna with her son, but it was gone the moment she remembered Darinia's subtle frowns whenever the younger woman flirted with Dom.

Conversation continued idly, for little Rose was still present, bouncing in her seat on Dom's lap and giggling. Queen sat in Kel's lap, purring as the knight stroked her. Jump lay on the floor, watching the humans with his intelligent triangular eyes.

"It's bedtime for you soon, young lady," Dom remarked as Rose played with her uncle's hair.

"'m not tired, Uncle Dom," she mumbled into Dom's shoulder.

"Yes, you are," Dom replied laughingly, turning to look at her. "And what are you doing with my hair?"

As her mother giggled, Rose said gleefully, "Bwaiding it!"

Laughing, Dom gently pried his niece's grip from his hair and resettled her on his lap. Kel smiled. Dom had always been one to spoil children; he'd given piggy-back rides to many of the children of New Hope, unable to turn down their "sweet, willful faces."

"Say, Dom, I have a bet going on," Madrigol announced conspiratorially.

Dom, always up for bets, perked up. "On what?"

Madrigol—or Maddy, for short—smirked. "On when my sister will snag you."

Dom flushed as Lucetta kicked her husband's shin and cried, "Maddy!"

"What?" Maddy asked, amused. "It's bound happen."

Surprisingly, Neal chimed in. "I agree." Then he made a face. "And I've been here less than half a day. Can I get in on this bet?"

Dom groaned. "Oh please, Meathead—"

Neal raised his brows. Kel, not liking much the direction of this conversation, wondered idly if Neal knew his eyes widened and became slightly more menacing whenever he did that. "Don't 'Meathead' me. I heard—quite literally—that Doanna is an aggressive woman. She'll get what she wants soon enough. And, from the looks of things, you don't exactly discourage her." He turned to Maddy. "Well, O wise cousin-in-law of mine? I wager two days' time. Wait, what odds are we talking about?"

"Well, it's twenty to one that—"

"Twenty? How many people have you let in on this?"

"You are not seriously discussing this—"

"Uncle Dom? Where's Uncle Nol?"

That sweet little voice came from the girl in Dom's lap. All conversation died out. Kel could see Dom was trying to get his emotions under control as he stroked his niece's dark hair, so much like his own. Finally he said, "He's not here, sweet. I know he's really sorry that he can't come home and see you again..."

"But he'll come back soon, wight? An' take me riding an' bluebewy picking again?"

Dom smiled sadly at having to break this little girl's heart. "I'm afraid not, love. Uncle Nol had to go, you see, to do his duty to the realm. And when he was done, the Black God called him to His realm, the most peaceful your uncle's ever known."

"My lord."

A maid in Fenrigh colors—Rose's nursemaid, Kel figured—stood at the door. Dom looked up belatedly, not used to responding to the very title that belonged to the dead brother he spoke of.

"With my lord and my lady's permission, I'd like to take Lady Rosalee to her bed now. It's getting late."

"Of course," Dom remarked quietly, kissing goodnight to Rose, whose eyes had begun to fill with confusion at why everyone was so quiet and sad. The maid left with Rosy on her hip.

"Someone ought to go with her," Dom remarked, starting to get up.

"It's fine, Dom," Maddy interrupted. "We've been over this several times already. Nolann died nobly, Rose knows that."

"But does she understand?" Dom asked, raising his brows very much as Neal had.

"She's three," Lucetta said quietly. "She's not expected to."

Kel suspected Dom wanted to argue, but he decided to drop the subject. As talk resumed, Kel felt more uneasy and disinclined to talk. She couldn't pinpoint why, but perhaps it was the ill juxtaposition of idle gossip with grim reality.

Eventually, talk turned once more to such gossip, and thus, to bets. Kel thought it seemed to go on and on, but she was glad that talk of death seemed to have retired for the night.

Jump whuffed at her knee softly; Lucetta, noticing Kel's quietude, asked, "Is everything alright, Lady Knight? I forgot that you and Neal spent all day traveling; you must be tired."

Kel smiled ruefully—to hide the fact that her silence was due to no such thing—and replied, "Please, Lady Lucetta, it's just Kel. And yes, I'm sorry I can't contribute much to conversation tonight. I will be the better for some rest." She straightened in her seat. "I'm going to turn in for the night."

Dom touched her arm gently as she got up. "Where are you going?"

"To bed," she said, to everyone. "I'm done in. Don't mind me, I'm not interested in bets."

"But you have to help me keep lookout for when I've won, Kel!" Neal whined.

Kel frowned at him. She certainly had no interest in doing _that_. Dom, to her surprise, elbowed Neal hard in the ribs. "Impolite, Neal, encouraging interloping!" He looked apologetically at Kel, a twinkle in his eye. "Sometimes he's too insolent for his own good. Sleep well, Kel."

Kel couldn't help but grin in the end, bidding them all goodnight. Break her heart though he might, Dom was a gentleman enough. And though she didn't exactly approve his sister and brother-in-law leaving their little Rose to be consoled by a nursemaid, they weren't such a bad sort either, even if they still were a bit of a puzzle.

* * *

But she did anything but sleep well.

Exhaustion was no help. Try as she might, Kel couldn't get images of Dom and Doanna out of her mind. Out of all the things she took away from that evening—Lady Darinia's uncanny acceptance, Rosalee's infectious laughter, Nolann's death, even Dom's budding potential for fatherhood—why did the prospect of Dom and another woman occupy her thoughts so? As hot, fitful jealousy kept sleep at bay and discomfort close, Kel forced herself to think of other things, since clearing her mind for sleep was clearly not on the horizon.

The war. So many—so much—lost. Even though Tortall had officially won the war, there was little victory on a battlefield with dead men all around you. Kel knew that all too well. Her own family had been spared any casualties, thank Mithros, but her refugees, friends, and comrades had paid _such_ a price, many with their own lives. And Dom's family was no exception.

Knowing that images of war while she lay awake would only barrage her in her sleep, Kel threw off the covers, donned a cloak against the nighttime chill, and left her room as quietly as she could without waking Jump.

She ghosted down the long, silent hall, letting its coolness ease the pounding in her head. Moonlight streamed through the windows set along the hall, illuminating the white curtains rippling in the slightest of breezes. Once she was in better spirits, Kel even half-hoped to stumble across someone as mad as she, wide awake and wanting to chat a couple bells past midnight.

A corner to the right loomed up ahead. Kel turned—and froze.

There was a balcony up ahead, the same curtains flowing behind the same kind of windows, except they reached the floor and acted as a door. Outside there stood a tall figure gazing down at the village.

Though she couldn't tell why, she felt compelled to join him—she could tell he was male. Perhaps because it was the hour during which souls were most inclined to talk about the whys and wherefores of life.

_Great_ , Kel thought, _now I sound like Neal_.

As she drew closer, she recognized who it was by his unmistakeable silhouette. She strode toward the window and almost pulled back the flyaway curtains when she hesitated. What if he wanted to be let alone?

As if sensing her trepidation, the figure turned quickly, blue eyes holding hazel and pulling her in. All of her unease gone, she drew back the sheer curtains and opened the windows.

He smiled at her, albeit weakly. She joined him at the rail, a mutual understanding seeming to settle over them like a blanket.

And there they stood, a mere foot apart, and yet worlds away in their thoughts and emotions. Her deceptively blank face hid a tempest of mourning and existentialism. Unconsciously, he was learning from her, but distress still laid claim over his normally good-humored face.

"How's Tobe been lately?"

She was startled by his question but let him see her small smile instead. "He's ecstatic to be getting formal lessons." Her voice was a little hoarse from lack of use. She cleared it. "Daine's pregnant with her second child now, so she's been using her time off spy duties to teach him his horse magic." She looked at him. "He misses you, you know."

He smiled wistfully. "I miss him, too. But you know, all his training and success wouldn't have happened had he not met you."

She opened her mouth to reply, but he added quietly, "I think a lot of us feel the same way about you, Kel."

She saw no wicked twinkle in his eye then. He held her gaze steadily, drowning her in deep blue pools of emotion. Whatever she was about to say slipped off her tongue and pooled uselessly at her feet. Instead she shook her head and asked, "Who's 'us'?"

He shrugged, his shoulders drawing her eyes toward his well-fitted tunic. _Stop that_ , she scolded herself. _Now's not the time to get distracted_.

"Everyone who survived because of you," he said simply. His eyes seemed to have absorbed the moonlight only to shine it back on her.

She looked away. She knew it was pointless to argue. They'd been over this too many times, and Kel was tired of trying to make people think less of her. After a moment, she asked, "Dom, what will you do now?"

He sighed. That unfamiliar grimness returned. "My mother... wants me to leave the Own and settle down. Lost three too many men in her life, she says..." He looked at his hands, scarred and scabbed over almost as much as Kel's were. "And none of them have given her grandchildren. Heirs. But I can't imagine leaving the Own. It's been my life for the past ten years, and Masbolle... I haven't been home for nearly half of my life in years. I don't know anything about how to run this place." His eyes were desperate, almost pleading.

Kel rested her hand on his shoulder and gave it a light squeeze. "Anything I can do to help?"

He gave her a small, secretive smile, a strange one, because then he looked away as if embarrassed. "My mother thinks I don't know, but having been around my lord Raoul for the past ten years, you'd think she'd be more careful to hide her matchmaking around me. She's trying to find me a wife who can help manage the estate. I told her that she was hardly narrowing it down, since all ladies get some kind of training in managing while their lords are away. But then she just smirked at me and didn't say who she actually had in mind." He chuckled. "She's been managing the estate on her own for a while now, but she still needs to stay busy to keep her mind off of... other things."

It took a long moment for Kel to realize that the fact that he'd answered her question by implying that his mother's matchmaking scheme was what would help him manage, and that he'd avoided mentioning any names, told her that he knew exactly who his mother had in mind as a potential wife for him. Moreover, his mother knew, somehow, that this lady had such leadership experience. Kel hoped that the dark hid her blush.

_But why hadn't he mentioned it? Did he think he'd offend? Or was he disgusted at the prospect?_

Fortunately, his gaze was fixed elsewhere: skyward. Stars watched over them, winking at them on this clear summer night. And even though her heart was a tumultuous riot, for the first time since the war ended, Kel felt safe.

The moon lent light to the darkness around them.

"And you, Kel?" His voice was pleasing to her ears—deep, warm, and husky in the night. She gave him a questioning look. "What will you do now?"

"I don't know," she replied. "I'm thinking to visit Mindelan and New Hope after Neal's wedding, but... it seems as if I just left. We've been at New Hope for so long, and it's so strange to leave. After that, I really don't know. Perhaps I'll join Owen bandit-hunting for a time."

To her surprise, he took her hand and kissed it. "Well, anytime you need a respite from your knightly duties, and you want to visit again, you can always come here. You know I'll always welcome you with open arms." He winked.

She yanked her hand away. "Teasing brute," she muttered tartly. "Where's Queen, anyway? She always seems to put you in your place."

"Getting her beauty sleep," he replied, unruffled. "Speaking of which, why aren't you getting yours, my lady knight?"

Now it was her turn to shrug, ignoring his use of possessives. "Couldn't sleep. But I'd best be getting to bed now."

"Me too," he said. Then he grinned widely. "Need company?"

_As if you'd actually give it_ , she thought darkly, then pushed both the thought and Dom away. "I don't need a chaperone, thank you very much!"

He followed her back inside and bade her goodnight before heading to his rooms. As Kel walked back to her own, the light pouring through the windows brightened the tiniest bit.

_Not such a bad night after all_ , she thought as she drifted off to sleep.


	3. The Heartbreak of a Suitable Wife

Despite the hours she kept the night before, Kel was up at dawn. She fed her sparrows and Jump. Then, out of habit, she did glaive practice in her room, but these days it was more to wake her up than to stay fit for battle. After a moment's hesitation, Kel donned one of the dresses she had packed, a dark forest green gown crafted by none other than Lalasa. At last she put on a black armband out of respect for the family in whose home she was staying.

She was heading downstairs when she heard footsteps behind her. Dom's Queen ran up to greet her. "Beautiful dress," Dom murmured behind her. "Wearing it for someone in particular?"

Kel glared at him to hide his effect on her. "Of course. Myself. A girl doesn't need an excuse to wear a dress."

He tweaked her nose. "I know," he said cheekily.

The household ate breakfast together (after much persuasion brought Neal out of bed) and then walked to the burial grounds. They took a countryside trail that wound behind the manor and took them uphill. Soon, Kel could no longer hear the distant bustling of the town. Instead, plants of all kinds bloomed on the roadside: tiny peonies waved in the wind as tall grasses and taller trees shook off the morning dew in the wind. Kel's sparrows darted from tree to tree, cheeping brightly.

"Pondering the greenery, lady knight?" Dom remarked as he drew even with Kel. When Kel replied that she was curious, he explained, "It's a long story, but basically, past generations of Masbolles learned the hard way that it's not a good idea to make our burial grounds look like, well, a dead place."

The tall cemetery gates were wrought from sturdy black iron. Black vines of leaves climbed up and wrapped around each post. As they entered, the only sound came from the rustling of leaves, the sigh of the wind, and the crunch of footsteps.

The flowering environment explained why it was no custom to place flowers or offerings by the tombstones. The household linked hands and gathered first around the late Lord Irwin's grave, then those of his sons, Sirs Gavin and Nolann. Kel gave Neal's hand a reassuring squeeze as they stood before Nolann, with whom Neal was almost as close to as he was with Dom.

At around the ninth bell, they returned to the house, a somber yet resigned air having descended especially upon the immediate family. It was the first time all the Masbolles together visited their deceased. Someone was always either on active duty or at Court.

Rosalee was tear-worn and dozing on her father's shoulder as Maddy asked the others, "Anyone up for some riding?"

After the morning ride, Dom insisted that an official tour of the house was in order for Kel. He showed her the separate wings of the house, the gardens, the kitchens, the different sitting rooms and dining areas. The house even had a swimming hole out back. Then he showed her the fields and vineyards where Masbolle's famed blueberries and other fruits were farmed. Kel went to lunch feeling all the more at home. She said as much to her tour guide.

"I wouldn't have it any other way," Dom remarked, chuckling. "My offer still stands for you to come here and stay any time you like. It will certainly be a little lonely here in the coming years."

* * *

After lunch, Kel decided to catch up on some letter writing. It had been a while since she wrote home last, and she also wanted to write to her friends. She was walking past the same balcony where she and Dom talked the night before when she heard a voice from outside:

"Not inclined toward fun anymore, my lord?" It was familiar, though the times it was addressed to Kel it was sneering, not purring.

"If we're to have any fun, we ought to be on first-name bases, milady." Kel could practically see him in her mind's eye: one of his eyebrows quirking up suggestively, that wicked smile plastered on his face, that naughty twinkle in his eye, and a lightheartedness in the very air around you.

"Alright, then, Domitan. Can we have fun now?"

Dom said something Kel couldn't hear, so she sneaked to the other side of the window to get a better vantage point. In all honesty, Kel's heart sank with every word, but there was no helping her favorite vice: eavesdropping.

The couple stood facing each other, and Kel might have considered their backdrop of a breathtaking Masbolle by day very romantic were she not busy with the creeping feeling that she was being betrayed.

Kel watched as Doanna leaned toward him for a kiss. Kel looked away as he let her. Suddenly it became very hard for Kel to suppress the urge to cry.

After a while, Doanna took Dom's hand and led him back inside. Kel, on their blind side, ran for dear life. She was lucky they were taking their sweet time about getting back inside, otherwise they would have seen her. Kel tried not to think too much about what "fun" they were going to get up to. The very thought of them made it all the more difficult to hold back tears. Silently Kel cursed Dom for flirting with her—on that very balcony, too!—and then going off to be with another woman, one who held ill will toward Kel herself. Did he know that about Doanna? Did he even care?

Kel slammed her door shut behind her and heaved a broken sigh of frustration. Jump, by the window, leaped down and pawed her leg, wuffing. Kel sighed again. He was right. She had to fight back all thoughts of Dom or else she knew what would happen, and that was no good. She couldn't show that such ridiculousness had an effect on her, even though it did. It cut deeper than she ever expected. And yet, she was _Kel_. She survived Blayce the Nothing Man. She survived the Scanran War. She survived heartbreak—twice. Surely this was no different.

She allowed only a single tear to slip from her left eye, no more.

* * *

A rap on the door roused Kel from a long and very unintentional nap. Blearily she wiped the sleep from her eyes and did her best to straighten her clothes before she opened the door.

"Oh, my dear," Dom's mother remarked, taking Kel's face in her comforting hands. "I came to see if you would be for some supper... What's the matter, darling?"

Kel smiled tiredly. "Nothing, my lady. I just fell asleep, is all. And please, call me Kel. When is supper?"

"Right about now. Well then, go and wash up. I can still see the dreams in your eyes," Darinia joked, reminding Kel of Dom not one bit. "I'll walk down with you."

Kel did as she was told. Despite her misgivings, the sleep did her well. Her mind was more composed, even if her appearance was not. _Just as well_ , Kel thought dogmatically, _Nothing shall disturb my mind, especially not this_.  _It doesn't matter what I look like._

As luck would have it, the servants placed Kel next to Dom at table. The lady knight did her best to carry on as if she knew nothing and, as a result, contributed more to conversation this night than the last. She pretended not to notice Doanna's not-so-subtle glances across the table at Kel's dinner companion. So well she pretended that she almost missed her companion's returning looks, or lack thereof.

Dom talked to Kel as he normally did, joking and gesticulating in his usual manner that Kel almost forgot all her troubles. By the end of the meal, Kel was resigned to the fact that he still pulled her heartstrings like no other, but she valued their friendship too much to hold any grudges against him for unknowingly breaking her heart.

Dom also made the mistake of asking Neal about his betrothed, Yuki, to which Neal responded with an elaborate soliloquy. The others listened with interest, save for Kel and Dom, who both already knew much of what Neal was saying. When the knight started repeating himself, Dom looked at Kel and rolled his eyes.

Afterward, the household retired to the garden that hugged the mansion's east wall. The walkways blended well with the greenery, inviting one to stray off the path to look more closely at the purples, blues, reds, and yellows of the varieties of violets, orchids, roses, and daisies.

"Meathead, I'm surprised you haven't taken off already, your lady love so nearby from our humble home," Dom remarked with a friendly clap on Neal's shoulder.

Neal sniffed. "And I see no one's managed to change you one bit, _cousin_."

At this, Dom appeared thoughtful—or was that _pain_ in his eyes?—but then it was gone, replaced with an impish smile. "Good, as long as I'm nowhere near being like you," he said with false cheer. Kel frowned. Dom never let anyone get under his skin, especially not Neal.

Someone tugged her hand. Kel looked down. "Cawwy me, Lady Kel!" Little Rosalee exclaimed.

"Say 'please,' Rosy," her mother, Lucetta, scolded.

"Pwease?" Rose repeated, eyes pleading, reminding Kel of the children of New Hope.

The lady knight bent down and scooped her up, bracing the little girl on her hip. She sat at an empty bench under the shade of a willow tree, Jump at her heels. By the way the dog jumped up next to Rose and sniffed and licked her hand, it was evident he wanted to play. Rose responded with an enthusiasm that rivaled that of Kel's  friend Sir Owen of Jesslaw.

Alone with her thoughts, Kel observed the family and thought of her own family and friends. She never spoke much about how much she missed them to outsiders, because more than anything she disliked being pitied for her loneliness. It was bad enough going through two sweethearts and being away from her other friends for such long periods of time during the past few years. These days, she found herself in need of that intimate companionship that added such spice to her life in her non-single days. Cleon, who didn't really break her heart, was fun while they lasted, but the truth was that his arranged marriage was inevitable, and so was their romance. Merric, who did break her heart, did so in private, but then again, he'd been so keen on keeping even their relationship as private a secret as could be that he'd denied her in public. That ended the stolen kisses, the covert glances...

Now, as she watched Doanna's hand linger on her unrequited love's arm, Kel thought, _Perhaps things were always meant to be this way. Doanna is pretty enough, and gods know Dom is too. They'd make a good couple..._ Absently she wondered if and when they planned to tell everybody...

"Lovely night tonight, Lady Kel." Lady Darinia of Masbolle sat down next to her as Rose wriggled out of Kel's lap to play with Jump and the sparrows. Queen was nowhere to be seen.

"Oh, yes," Kel breathed, gazing up at the pale, glowing moon. "Masbolle is every bit as beautiful as you said it was, my lady."

"Please, call me Darinia," the lady replied. "And I'm glad you agree." Then she took a deep breath. "Kel. Would you so oblige to hear me out for a moment? There's something I want to discuss with you."

"Of course," Kel said, intrigued.

"I confess," Darinia began, "I've become one of those matchmaking mothers that my son tells me Lord Sir Raoul so hated in the past. But I have reason to be." She looked at Kel worriedly. "What will become of Masbolle if—gods forbid—some accident claims my son's life while he's off gallivanting with the King's Own? Frankly, he's lucky to have made it to Scanra and back with you and Nealan and the dog... Well, I expected no less, seeing how _you_ led them all." Kel hid a blush. Dom's mother continued, "But his life is a dangerous one. He tells me over and over that he knows the danger, and I believe him, but he's had _ten_ years... I don't even want to guess how many close calls he's had in those ten years. And I don't want to outlive my youngest son," she whispered, her eyes haunted.

Kel gave Darinia's hand a comforting squeeze as the lady continued, "So, whether Dom likes it or not, I'm finding him a suitable wife. I want him to have someone to come home to. Someone he can always laugh with. Someone who can meet him as an equal. But most importantly, someone who will help him out."

The two ladies watched Dom talk animatedly to his sister and her husband, while Neal debated with Doanna, doubtless about some manner of philosophy.

Rose clutched her grandmother's hands as Darinia pulled her into her lap. "See, I believe you are that woman, Keladry of Mindelan." Kel jerked up, startled. Darinia smiled and said, "Oh yes! My son tells me how natural a leader you are, what with New Hope and—and how you led his squad when you were only a squire. And he wrote about how great a person and a friend you are to him—why, he sounds as if he's half in love with you already!" she said slyly. "Granted, marriage is no doubt a unique proposition for a lady knight... Unless you are already attached?"

Kel stared at her. "No, my la—Darinia, I'm not attached. I'm not seeing anybody at the moment..." She trailed off, unsure if she should tell Dom's mother of her son's latest attachment.

"Good!" Darinia said. "Well, you are good friends, are you not?"

"Yes, but—Darinia, I mean no disrespect but I beg to differ." She took a deep breath. Suddenly she felt very tired. "Because Dom seems quite infatuated with Lady Doanna these days."

Kel was interested to see the woman purse her lips while directing her gaze to the lady in question, who was now laughing at something Dom said. Finally Darinia spoke. "I've nothing against the woman. I can certainly sympathize with her, losing her husband, and so early in their marriage, too." She looked at Kel sharply. "But she's not the one for my son. He deserves better, not someone who thinks of men merely as her playthings. That shouldn't be all a woman sees in her man! Because that is definitely Doanna of Fenrigh."

Kel was shocked. She had her suspicions about Darinia's disapproval of the woman, but now they were validated.

"I see," Kel remarked at last, brows knit in a frown. "But I'm not so sure... He's never shown an interest before."

"Oh, he hasn't?" Darinia asked mildly, scratching Jump's ears. "No doubt he has flirted—"

"He doesn't mean it," Kel said automatically, then looked at the older woman with alarm. "Begging my lady's pardon. But Dom flirts with everybody."

Darinia's eyes narrowed. "Does he, indeed. We will see about that." Before Kel could say anything, Dom's mother stood and strode to her son, now sitting in conversation with his brother-in-law. With horror Kel watched the scene unfold before her.

Dom only grinned at his mother and turned back to Maddy. Kel breathed a sigh of relief. Later that night she went to bed with far more than Dom and Doanna to think about.


	4. Drama

The morning after, Kel left her rooms for Masbolle’s practice courts, which were much more spacious than her own rooms for glaive practice.  Turning a corner, she almost ran into none other than Doanna of Fenrigh.  It might have been a casual encounter, but as it were, both ladies stopped in their tracks, as if expecting the other to pounce.

Kel met the other woman’s glower steadily, face unreadable.  Finally Doanna broke eye contact and went on her way, shouldering Kel in the process.

“What’s gotten into her?” Neal asked caustically, stepping out of his rooms.  “And you’ve got your Yamani Lump face on.  She’s not still giving you trouble, is she?”

Kel shook her head.  “No, Neal, don’t worry about me.  I am worried about you, though.  You just lost your bet.”

Neal gaped at her.  “What? They... They’re together already?!” he shouted.

Kel shushed him and commenced soothing his wounded pride.  It seemed only she or Yuki could actually pull that off these days.  And Neal had lost quite a bit of money this time.

While Dom was occupied with his mother, “learning the trade” of managing the estate, Kel and Neal spent the day with Lucetta and Maddy, who both brought along Rose for her promised ride through Masbolle.

It was all very well, despite Neal being more restless than ever, threatening to take off right then and there for Queenscove, to Yuki.  But in the end it only took gentle persuasion by the adults to convince Neal that he left behind practically all of his belongings in the house, and therefore, he would find himself quite inconvenienced on the road were he to leave without them now.

They visited the town for a couple of hours before Rose insisted they go “bluebewwy picking” in Masbolle’s gardens.  Between the giggling and the rich violet ink smeared on all their faces, Kel discovered the reason that Masbolle berries were famous. Each one was so juicy as to be thirst-quenching, and they were perfectly sweet in flavor.

That day Kel also endeavored to learn more about Dom's brother-in-law and sister. She learned that Madrigol of Fenrigh worked in diplomatic affairs, and was part of the committee that worked out Tortall’s part of many foreign treaties, including the one with Yaman.  He knew her father, Baron Piers of Mindelan, but Maddy was no leading diplomat like him. He told her with a lopsided grin that such was the life of a younger son.

Lucetta was a traditional noble lady in the Fenrigh home, raising her daughter and helping look after her nieces and nephews when her husband and brothers-in-law were away.  Seven years younger than Dom, Lucetta was the same age as Kel.  Kel’s imaginative side, the part of her that was most like Neal, wondered if Lucetta was living the life that Kel would have had had she not gone for her knighthood.

“It’s a relatively simple life,” Lucetta told her, a very Dom-like sparkle in her gaze, “but it’s fulfilling.”  Then she said teasingly, “Because you know, lady knight, _all_ of us can’t be setting tradition on its ear!”

They returned to the manor at dusk.  The reunion of the family for dinner saw the return of Queen.  Kel had not seen the orange-gray feline for more than a day, but she thought that the cat was just making herself scarce.  Now Queen was curled up by the hearth, dejection in her pale green eyes, tail slapping the floor rhythmically.  Kel frowned.  The cat looked little like her namesake.

The lady knight picked her up and carried her to the dining room.  Queen hissed when Dom—or Doanna?—came into the room but quieted when Kel sat and petted her absently.  Soon Queen was purring softly, though she never left Kel’s side.  Occasionally she would beg scraps from Neal, but soon she switched her tail and disappeared from the room entirely.

“Lady Kel,” Dom’s mother whispered from her seat next to Kel, “I hope I didn’t offend you with what I said yesterday.”  She hesitated, then added, “You see, I only want the both of you to be happy—”

“It’s fine, Lady Darinia,” Kel replied hurriedly, “I know you are only trying to help.”

The lady’s light green eyes met Kel’s.  In them Kel was surprised to find an anguish that she couldn’t quite place.  But in the blink of an eye, it was gone.

_Something to puzzle over later_ , Kel thought.

* * *

_Later_ came when, the next morning, Kel awoke suddenly to heavy footsteps outside her door and Doanna yelling, “—not like proper noble ladies anymore? Well—” her voice lowered dangerously—“I won’t be here for that whoring around.”

“Doanna.”  Kel sat up in bed, struggling to hear Dom’s calmer voice.  “You just insulted a fully blooded knight. And I will not stand for such comments about my friends.”

“And I won't take another rejection.”  Then the bitterest sneer Kel had ever heard in her life came when Doanna said, “Bet you didn’t know that, did you? That my husband got himself killed on purpose rather than face coming back home to me, didn’t you?”

A shocked silence seemed to freeze all sound and movement.  Finally, footsteps—Doanna’s, Kel guessed—receded as Kel let out breath she didn’t know she was holding.

There was no going back to sleep now; it was dawn, after all.  Kel, slightly dazed, soon regained composure as she did her morning exercises. What she felt most strongly, more than empathy or joy, was a stunned confusion. Not one for random Court gossip, Kel supposed she did never know how Doanna’s husband, Geoffrey of Meron, felt about his wife or why he felt death was his only escape from her.  She certainly never knew that he had an ulterior motive to getting killed for his country. Was Doanna even right? Or was she making assumptions, as she always seemed to have done with Kel? The whole thing became more tragic and more perplexing the more Kel thought about it.  Though she had never wronged Doanna outright, if she was right about her husband, Kel couldn’t help but feel guilty.

_Just when you think you know a person_ , she thought grimly, _they surprise you in the oddest ways_ _._

Throughout the day, the group was quiet and oddly somber, half of them having heard that morning’s outburst.  Soon, everyone knew what had transpired between Dom and Doanna.

Fed up with it all, Kel went to go see Dom herself.  She rapped on his door.

Dom opened it.  He looked surprised to see her.  “Kel—”

“Dom, you are not about to mope all day, are you?” Kel demanded sharply, letting herself in and closing the door.

“I—no,” he said defensively.  He ran his hand through his hair.  “It’s just—you heard her this morning, Kel, I’m sure.  It’s just so hard to talk to her.”

Dom wouldn’t look at her, even as he sat on his bed and tapped his foot anxiously on the floor.

Kel sat down next to him.  “What did she say?”

“A lot of things,” he replied blandly, “like how ‘we needed each other’ and that she was ‘exactly’ what I ‘was looking for as Lord of Masbolle.’”  Finally he looked at Kel and said in a lowered voice, “She even went so far as to say... less than decent things about you.  In front of my face, too.”

So he _didn’t_ know, and he _did_ care.“What things?” Kel caught herself asking.  _Since when did I become such a masochist?_ Kel wondered.

Dom looked at her, eyes wide.  “I shouldn’t repeat them—”

“Just say it, Dom, I’m sure I’ve heard worse.”  She wanted to know exactly what he wouldn’t tolerate.

“She thought I was lusting after you.  That I should go ahead and take pity on you because you couldn’t make—” he paused, shamefaced.  “I can’t say it, Kel.”

“Yes you can.”

His eyes were over bright before he looked away from her and finished quickly, “Because you couldn’t make much living on your back with those looks, anyway.”

Hurriedly, he continued, “Look, Kel, can we just forget about this and—” he paused when he finally looked back at Kel and saw her chuckling softly and shaking her head. “You’re laughing?”

“I just think it’s impressive that she managed to call me slutty _and_ ugly in the same breath.  Now _that’s_ a new one!”

Dom looked alarmed and uncomfortable.  “Um—”

“You’re right, forget it.”

“Y-yes, of course.”

After a moment, Kel asked, in what she hoped was a casual voice, “So, Dom, what _are_ you looking for as Lord of Masbolle?”

"I have no idea. But as to what I'm looking for in a relationship..." he sighed.  “A year ago, I would’ve said... ‘fun.’” He chuckled.  “You would have been ashamed of me, Kel.  You probably still are.”  Kel, about to protest, stopped when he turned his blue gaze on her, his eyes unreadable.  “But I don’t think that’s all that I’m looking for anymore.”

Kel couldn’t look away.  “What do you mean?”

“It seems that—” he reddened perceptibly—“my experience has been, over the years, that the more a woman doesn't care about... things, the more complicated our relationship.  Lately, I’ve been tired of that drama.”  Suddenly he remarked thoughtfully, “I never knew that about Doanna.”

Kel knew what ‘that’ was.  “Me neither,” she said quietly.  “How horrible it must have been for her.”

Dom nodded grimly.  “I tried to talk to her again, but... it was no use.  We’re quits. And she's going home tomorrow.”

“I’m sorry.”

“No,” he whispered, moving to put an arm around Kel’s shoulders.  “No one’s fault but mine.”

Kel leaned into him, his touch soothing her.

After a while, he let her go.  “Well, if I’m to convince everyone that I’ve _not_ been moping, I should probably show myself.”

Kel suppressed a shiver at the loss of heat.  “That would be wise,” she agreed, rising and making for the door.

“Kel.” His voice stopped her.  She turned.  Scant inches separated their faces as he whispered, “Thank you.  What would I do without you?”

She gripped his arm, ignoring the butterflies in her stomach.  “You would have gotten along just fine.  I just got impatient enough with not knowing what really happened and whether or not you were alright.”

Dom looked as if he wanted to say something but thought the better of it.  Instead he chuckled and said, “Keladry of Mindelan, _impatient_?”

She gave him a shove and opened the door.  “Aren’t you happy that I was?”

“Very,” he replied with a smile.


	5. Everything

Doanna left the next day.  Where she was going—Meron, Fenrigh, or someplace else—she kept a secret. Madrigol confessed that she had told him she was "going home," so the household was left guessing. In addition to the lady’s departure, this day marked the end of the family’s mourning period.

As the family lazed, Kel itched for something to do.  Having so much time alone with her thoughts and living life at such a leisurely pace on the estate made her skin crawl with restlessness.  Kel hoped that a day well-spent down in the practice courts, hitting things and honing her skills, would act as an antidote to such an itch.

At the end of the day, the household relaxed in the gardens once more.  That is, they _were_ relaxing until Lady Darinia asked Dom, “Well, my son, what have you decided about what I asked you?”

Dom froze.  “Which one?”

“On whether or not you will return to Corus after your leave is up,” was the cool reply.

Dom regarded his mother intently for a long moment.  Then he shifted uncomfortably on the bench.  “I’ll have to, one way or another.”

“True,” his mother said after a pause. “Will there be a resignation letter involved?”

He looked down. “I haven’t decided yet,” he said quietly.

“Domitan.”  Darinia’s voice was cold, unrelenting.  “Half your squad did not make it back from the northern border. And you said, quite unequivocally, that you didn’t want the same happening to you.  And don’t you even want to know how to manage this place when I’m gone?”

Kel, wondering how the amiable lady could turn so cold, looked from mother to son worriedly.  Quick glances told her that Neal, Madrigol, and Lucetta (Rose had gone to bed) did the same.

Dom clenched his jaw before replying, “Of course, Mother.  But I need more time to think things through.”

“Very well.”  Darinia said after a long pause. “I trust you’ll make the right decision.”  She looked at everyone else, ignoring how they stared openly at her.  “Good night, darlings.”

Lady Darinia strode back inside before anyone could utter a word.  Apparently, rarely did the Lady of Masbolle don such imperiousness that seemed to cow everybody into speechlessness.

Finally, it was Neal who broke the silence.  “Dom,” he drawled, “what was that about?  Aunt wants you to resign?”

Dom sighed, not meeting anyone’s eyes.  “I wish she hadn’t made such a spectacle of it, but yes, she does.  I don’t know why I’m still—” he broke off, seeming frustrated with himself, and looked up to meet Kel’s gaze.  Then he looked at everyone else and said, “She wants me to settle down.”

Everyone knew "settle down" meant a wife and children—a proper family—to continue the Masbolle line.  These things were important to Dom but, as they all witnessed tonight, to Lady Darinia of Masbolle the importance was tenfold.

“I hadn’t realized Mama wanted grandchildren so badly,” Luce remarked, fingering her engagement band.  “Well, brother, what are you going to do?  You’ll have to give them to her eventually.”

“But who?” Maddy asked.  “With who?”

Kel looked curiously at Dom as he fidgeted.  “I don't know."

“Huh,” Neal remarked, standing up and stretching.  Then he chuckled.  “Aunt Darinia must really think you mucked up with Doanna.”

Dom simply stared into the night.  For a long time, they all simply sat together, but alone in their own thoughts.  When one by one they finally stood to leave, Dom stayed behind.  Queen made an appearance at his side.  She sprung into his lap, startling him.  She instantly started purring.  He ran an absent hand over her fur, her mews growing more persistent.  Kel saw this when she turned back from the doorway to the manor.  She stepped into the castle, Jump at her side, just as Queen persuaded Dom to come back inside, too.

* * *

The next day—two days before the group left Masbolle—the household began preparations for their departure to Queenscove.  Of course, Neal couldn’t contain his glee.  At this point, nobody, not even little Rosalee, was surprised.

Between the burgeoning excitement and packing, Kel almost forgot that her twenty-first birthday was the next day.  But since she barely remembered, she wouldn’t be surprised if nobody else did.

So indeed she was surprised when Dom suddenly remarked over breakfast, “Kel, it’s your birthday tomorrow, isn’t it?”

“It is,” she affirmed.  “You remembered?”

“I, well—” he began, studying his porridge.  “I remembered it a while ago, before you came, but I didn’t remember it again until now.”

_Was Dom actually_ failing _to appear casual?_ Kel scrutinized him from her seat across from him.  Neal drew her attention by clearing his throat and commenting loftily, “Our dear Protector of the Small’s birthday ought to be a new Tortallan holiday.”

“No,” Dom said thoughtfully, “across all of the Eastern Lands.”

As the cousins debated, Kel looked to Lucetta, Madrigol, and Darinia for help.  Dom’s mother was regarding her son with a raised brow as both Luce and Maddy met Kel’s look and smiled, shaking their heads.  In the end, she had to kick both of them under the table to get them to stop going on about “the Protector’s festival” and “the pilgrimage to Tortall, home of the Protector.”

Later, as the group headed separated to do various tasks, Dom caught up with Kel on her way to the practice courts.

“Mind if I join you?” he inquired mildly.

“Of course not,” she replied.  Dom often joined her on the practice courts in the mornings, whenever his mother didn’t insist upon keeping him among the estate’s account books and records.  This was the first time he’d asked Kel’s permission, though.  Not that he had to, but nonetheless Kel was wary.

Neal bounded behind them, to Kel’s surprise.  “They’re going riding, and they’re talking about Sir Allanger’s _Tale of the Gold Cities_ ,” he huffed.  “If I have to hear another word about ‘chaste spintries’ or ‘hair like wet vines,’ I’m going to have to hit things first.  Such writing shouldn’t even exist.”

Kel thought this must be the end of the world.  Neal _, not liking a book?_ Despising _one, even?_   She voiced her confusion.

He wrinkled his nose and proclaimed, “Just because someone’s fond of horses doesn’t mean he or she must love every horse in the stable.”

“But he loves horses,” Dom reasoned.

But Dom seemed to reconsider; he traded looks with Kel and they chorused, “Peachblossom.”

Neal grinned, a bit darkly, and followed his chuckling companions into the indoor practice courts.

They were well warmed up before Kel and Dom faced off in a sword bout.  Neal had gone to look after Magewhisper.

“You know, lady knight,” Dom remarked, parrying her blows to his right.  “You can have anything you want for your birthday.”

_What’s he getting at?_ Before suspicion began to consume her, she shook her head, as much to clear it as to refuse.  “Dom, you know I don’t need any presents.”

“You don’t need them,” he agreed, striking as she blocked.  “But you can _want_ them.”

_Be careful_ , she told herself. Out loud she said, “What more could I possibly want, Dom?”

It was his turn to attack.  “The last word of that sentence,” he teased, dancing out of Griffin’s reach.He was a bold thing, flirting with the first girl he laid eyes on once he was no longer committed to another.

Sure, she wanted Dom. But his latest courtship, carried out with Kel under the same roof, revealed that he saw her as nothing more than a good friend.

And yet, he broke off said courtship once he found out that his lover despised the lady knight.  He had implied that he never would have gotten involved with the lady had he known her feelings about his friend Kel. But surely that was simply the act of any decent person.

“ _Really_ , Dom,” she told him instead, pushing past his defenses with rapid swings, “you’re such a convincing flirt, fresh off your—” her blade swung up to kiss his neck ever so lightly— “latest infatuation.” 

Dom, panting, met her eyes and, for once, struggled to respond.  Then he let his sword drop, telling her with a rueful smile, “You’re merciless, Kel.”

She grinned and withdrew Griffin.  “I know.”

* * *

Kel’s birthday dawned bright and clear.  She rose with the sun, as always, and went about her morning routine as per the usual.  She was in the middle of pulling off her nightclothes when a knock sounded at her door.

“One moment!” she called from her dressing room.

When she finished donning her dress, Kel yanked the door open to find no one there.  She peered out into the hall and found it empty.  She was beginning to close the door when she froze. Was that _blood_ on the stone flags?

Kel squinted to get a better look, drawing her concealed knife as she bent to get a closer look.  She didn’t _think_ it was blood, probably because the red spots were all roughly the same size and set out in an eerily neat trail to her door...

Jump barked from within her room and raced out into the hall, frolicking over the red spots, which stirred and settled with the dog’s antics.  Kel almost laughed in surprise, sheathing her knife.  Someone had laid out rose petals that led the way from her room to around the corner off her left.  _Surprises_ , Kel thought with mock-disgust, and closed the door behind her.

She followed the trail, which led her down several corridors and flights of stairs, her usual trip downstairs every morning for the past week.  The trip, usually brief, seemed long. _How could anyone take such time and effort to lay out all these petals?_ she thought. _Those poor roses!_

When she reached the main stair, she found that whole roses and other flowers and tables with trays laden with food were everywhere on the ground below.  At the center of that beautified main hall stood Dom, Neal, Lady Darinia, Lucetta, Madrigol, and Rosalee.

“Happy Birthday!” they called, hardly in sync.

Kel descended the stair quickly, awed.  “What’s all of this?” she asked, almost breathless at the beauty of it all.  They came over to meet her at the foot of the stairs. There she was met with embraces and birthday wishes. Dom  grinned and kissed her forehead.  “Happy Birthday, Kel.”

Kel gathered up a simply ecstatic Rose in her arms and led them to the food and couches to celebrate.

“Whose idea was the roses?” Kel asked after they had all gathered and settled in some semblance of order.

“All of ours,” Dom replied neutrally.

“Oh no, none of that, Dommy boy,” Maddy remarked, standing to clap his brother-in-law’s shoulder amicably.  “It was all his idea,” Maddy told Kel.

Dom grinned, shaking his head.  Kel raised her eyebrows at him but held the rest of her Mask in place. _  
_

“How thoughtful of you,” Kel told him quietly, her mouth quirking in a smile.

“Thank you.” He bowed graciously.

Lady Darinia cleared her throat.  Suddenly Dom said, “Look, Kel! Gifts!” He pointed to one of the tables, the one that held several wrapped packages.

The party continued well past noon, and then through supper, the household chatting away.  Soon Lucetta, Madrigol, and Rosalee dispersed from the group to do some last-minute packing.  Lady Darinia asked her son to accompany him upstairs, to do finances, she told Kel with a smile.  Kel thought she heard Darinia say she would “return him to you in an hour or so, no worries,” but she couldn’t be sure.

Only she and Neal were left past the third bell to midnight.  Dom had not returned.  Well worn out from a long day of talking, Kel yawned so widely she felt her jaws creak.  Neal laughed and said they’d best catch an early night for their departure for Queenscove the next morning.  Before she bade him goodnight and separated, Kel teased Neal about wanting to get an extra-long night dreaming of his reunion with Yuki.

Somehow Kel was bothered by Dom’s absence.  It was more than two hours since Lady Darinia had dragged him away.  Purely out of curiosity, Kel sought out his study, which adjoined his bedchamber.  If he and his mother were still working on their accounts, that was where they would be found.

She was right.  However, they weren’t talking about “finances.”  She didn’t have to press her ear to the keyhole to hear Lady Darinia demanding, "—you going to tell that poor girl how you feel?”

“Maybe I would have had you not dragged me away.”  That voice was Dom’s.  He sighed. “She wouldn’t take me seriously, not when I’ve mucked up things so badly between me and—you know.”  There was a brief pause.  Then, “Besides, I thought you’d know her enough by now to see that she was probably just being polite in not mentioning to you that she’s actually not interested in me at all.”

Suddenly Kel heard a familiar voice drawl by her ear: “Well, _that_ certainly is an interesting bit of news.”

Kel turned and gave Neal and real shove; caught unawares, he yelped and toppled over, sprawled in the middle of the hallway.  Then she whirled around at the sound of the door creaking.  Dom popped his head out, taking in the scene before him with noticeable panic.  “Kel?” he asked in confusion.

Lady Darinia pulled the door open sharply and stepped out from behind her son as Neal got to his feet.  Kel knew she was failing at concealing the look on her face—at both the “news” _and_ at being caught eavesdropping.  Darinia saw it, too, and with a muttered “I think you have some explaining to do” to Dom and a polite “Lady Knight” to Kel, she strode off down the hall and out of sight.  Neal, on the other hand, looked from Dom to Kel frantically before he, too, excused himself and went on his way.

Dom, too, must have seen in Kel’s face what she heard.  He started, “Kel, I—” as Kel said, “Dom, what—” and both stopped abruptly.  They smiled hesitantly at one another.  Then Dom continued, “Kel, I think you’d better come in before I say anything else."

Kel nodded mutely and stepped into Dom’s study.  It was a lovely room, she noted.  Plush couches and simple yet elegant furnishings made where he shuffled papers and books comfortable.  


Dom shut the door and spun to face her.  “Kel, I don’t know how much you—heard,” he began, winning narrowed eyes from Kel.  Still he blundered on, “But I think it’s about time that I told you. Everything.”

Kel waited as he gathered himself. Finally he fixed her with a gaze she couldn’t look away from.  “Kel, I probably have no right—but I’ve been thinking about you, as more than a friend, for a long time. And—I am so, so sorry that you had to hear it that way.  I swear I was going to tell you one of these days, but I just didn’t have the nerve.”  He paused, then went on quickly, “My mother’s been after me for days to tell you, and she was so upset with me and—and Doanna.  _Anyway_ ,” he took a deep breath, “I’ve been such a coward, I know.  You probably deserve better.”

Even as he said it, Kel saw in his eyes that he wasn’t about to give up. She also couldn't believe her ears.

“Gods curse it, Dom,” she said finally, putting panic on his face.  “Why were you ever with her, then?  And why didn’t you say so earlier? You could have saved us a lot of time and trouble.”  She was so relieved, her Yamani mask was slipping.  It took him more than a moment to realize what she was saying. And when he did, his panic turned into hope.

He took a step closer to her, never taking his eyes off her own. "Do you really mean that, Kel?" His voice cracked.

By way of reply she pulled him closer by the shirt and kissed him.

He responded readily, and soon, all space was lost between them. Passion replaced breath, and joy flowed in waves over both of them.

“Gods, Kel,” Dom whispered once they pulled away, breathing as heavily as she.  “How long have you wanted this?”

The heat in his voice overwhelmed her. She rested her head on his shoulder, trying to compose an answer.  What would he think if she told him the truth?  That she’d had a schoolgirl’s crush on him the moment she laid eyes on him, a crush that hadn’t gone away even despite her other relationships?  A “crush” that, in fact, intensified with each passing glance, conversation, and touch?

“A very long time,” she whispered finally, not trusting her voice. She caressed his cheek with her thumb, looking up into ocean blue eyes.

“Why?” he asked softly. “Why couldn’t you tell me?”

Standing there in his arms, Kel thought she never felt so coddled in her life.  She hated to compare, but neither Cleon nor Merric had ever held her this way.  Dom held her securely in his strong arms, with such warmth in his eyes, pleading with them as much as with his words for her to tell him. _Everything_.

“I was afraid to,” she replied, running her fingers through his soft black hair.  “I thought I’d never have a chance with someone like you.”

“Someone like me?” he repeated, smiling faintly.

_He’s adorable confused_ , Kel thought dizzily.  She fiddled with his hair and said aloud, “Oh, you know, handsome, charming, kind, never at a loss for words, or women.”

“Gods,” Dom breathed. “This looks bad.”

He struggled to catch at her wrists before she shoved him.  “No, no!  Kel, that’s not what I meant!” He jerked back and forth as Kel fought his hold.  “I mean _I_ look bad to you, courting all those women, and then... especially Doanna!”

Kel stopped resisting, her glare softening into confusion.

He let go of her wrists and took her hands instead.  “I never loved her or promised her anything,” he continued, probably afraid Kel would try more physical force on him if he didn’t explain himself more clearly.  “She just asked me and I—I couldn’t refuse.  I didn’t really know her then, how she felt about you, and it hurt only to hope that you returned my feelings. I assumed you didn't, so I didn’t say no to her.”  Dom searched her face for any clues as to how she felt, then added, “Bottom line is, I haven’t the slightest idea how to go about courting someone like _you_ , Kel.”

She stared at him.  “Someone like _me_?” Kel asked in turn.

He stroked her hands with his thumbs.  “Yes, you.  You’re a knight—”

“I’m a human being, Dom,” she interrupted.  “What has position got to do with anything?”

“I’m a human being too,” Dom replied steadily.  Kel was recovering from having her own words backfire when he said softly, “And I can’t, in my right mind, court seriously while I’m in the Own.”

Before she could inquire after what ‘court seriously’ meant, he said, “That’s why I’m quitting.”

“What!” Kel exclaimed, yanking her hands away from his.  “Dom, please tell me you—you thought this through,” she said, unsettled that he might’ve done it for her.

“Of course I have,” he told her.  “Kel, my mother is right.  She’s been right all along.  I was just too stubborn to realize it, that my time with the Own is over, especially now that I’ve inherited.  I hate to leave my squad when it means vacating a place for yet another new recruit, but Wolset will do fine.” Abruptly he turned away from her, but not before she saw the anguish on his face.

Kel came up behind him. "Oh, Dom," she whispered, seeing tears fill his eyes. When they fell, she gently wiped them away. Kel wrapped her arms around him as she felt his arms go around her. Rubbing circles on his back, she held him as he shook.

Kel understood.  Of course she understood.  She knew that Dom considered his squad his brothers, and having them wrenched away and replaced would be hard on anyone.  But somehow she knew, having been in Masbolle long enough, that it was Dom’s sense of duty that was tearing him in two.  He wanted to do his duty to his family and his duty as a sergeant in the King’s Own.  What was a man to do, should he want both?

But both was out of the question for Dom. He mourned the deaths of his blood brothers, the deaths of his brothers in arms, and the end of an extraordinary chapter of his life.

He finally pulled back from their embrace but only so he could kiss her with renewed passion. His lips then explored her jaw, the curve of her neck, the hollow of her throat.

They lowered themselves onto a couch. Kel's hands were beginning to drift inside his shirt when there was a rap at the door.

“Go away,” Dom murmured as he started sucking Kel’s collarbone.

“Who, me?” she gasped.

Dom growled as the knocks persisted.  Reluctantly, he pulled away and looked into her face. His eyes, shining with desire, softened to something more. "Not you, sweet. Never you."

He rose and opened the door a crack.  From the dramatic pause after Dom asked, “Yes?” calmly and the lowered voice that followed, Kel could hear it was Neal.  _Probably come to check on us_ , Kel wondered, remembering that Neal had overheard just as much as she had.  How he crept up on her earlier she had no idea; usually her senses were so keen when she eavesdropped.

Kel couldn’t hear them from her position on the couch.  She stood up, trying in vain to smooth her mussed gown.

Dom closed the door and turned back to Kel, smiling mischievously.  “They were worried about us,” he explained.  “Seemingly, we’ve been here a while. Mother sent Neal.  I told him there was nothing to worry about.”  With that he leaned in for a kiss, but stopped short.  “Is this okay, Kel?” he asked in a quieter voice.

Liking him even more in that instant, she smiled. "I would like to take things slowly,” she told him. "But I am glad things are finally clear between us."

That startled a chuckle out of him. “I really am sorry about that, Kel. I ought to use my head more often, don't you think?"

“No objections to that," she said with a laugh. She kissed him once more. "I should go."

As she left his rooms and started down the hall, she heard him whisper, a touch of amusement in his voice, “Happy Birthday, Kel.”

She turned back to see him leaning against the doorframe, grinning from ear to ear. She smiled back. "Good night, Dom."


	6. Our Love stands strong as Death

"Mama, why is Uncle Dom looking at Lady Kel funny?"

The sun was up at the break of dawn. One house at a time, the sun's rays woke the estate, promising a pleasantly balmy day of clear skies, perfect for riding. Today, the extended Masbolle clan would leave for Queenscove. Neal, in particular, could not miss the wedding.

Now Lucetta looked down with raised brows at her daughter, who was riding double with her. Then she cut her gaze toward—seemingly—the new couple, with renewed curiosity. Indeed, at breakfast Lucetta had noticed the two exchanging very significant glances when they thought themselves unobserved, but they had, in fact, been so conspicuous that even little Rosy noticed. Lucetta gave a little laugh and stroked back a lock of Rosy's dark hair from her upturned, curious face. "Oh, sweetheart, I believe your Uncle Dom is in love."

Sitting in her usual spot in front of Dom's saddle horn, Queen licked a paw, looking quite content, if not a little smug. Dom himself was indeed glowing as Kel rode up next to him. Her face was Yamani calm but her eyes, sparkling gold green in the sun, smiled as she looked at him. Jump, riding with Hoshi in his compartment behind Kel, wuffed and wagged his tail happily.

As the sun rose higher, the riders halted to rest at a pond before rejoining the Great Road North to Queenscove. Neal, riding more than a little ahead, led the group, whose mood had markedly brightened. Today, Darinia seemed to have returned to her cheerful self, when she had been uncharacteristically stern for the past few days. However, Luce's husband Madrigol, who wore a look of amusement, knew, as Lucetta knew, that Darinia was only gloating.

By about the sixth bell past noon, the riders glimpsed Queenscove in the distance. The sight of their ultimate destination, Queenscove castle, greeted them with elegant green spires atop massive stone towers that reached to the sky. To the untrained eye, the castle and outlying lands of Queenscove were as spectacular as Masbolle, and merely built on a larger scale. However, Queenscove had less farmland and more large buildings, to accommodate the more diverse sectors of Tortallan economy in which Queenscove partook. Dom, Darinia, and Lucetta looked on Queenscove and saw a familiar place they associated with good memories. But Neal saw home.

Or, what was his first home of many.

Neal drew up Magewhisper, and the others followed suit beside him. "Never thought this day would come," Neal murmured absently, his green eyes resting on their destination, miles ahead.

Kel, on his left, heard. "To get married?"

"To come home."

* * *

The party covered the remaining distance at a slower pace than they had been going. The effect of their arrival onto the estate was gradual. Townspeople appeared by the roadside, drawn by the procession of the groom and his companions.

Neal's family and the visitors that arrived for the wedding came to the foyer of Queenscove manor to greet them. Duke Baird, Duchess Wilina; Neal's sister Lady Jessamine and her husband Sir Balduin of Disart; Faleron, Merric, Seaver, Esmond; Owen and his new bride Lady Margarry, née of Cavall; Prince Roald and Princess Shinkokami; Neal's former knight-mistress, Alanna the Lioness; Lady Haname; Yuki. Neal's reunion with his bride was perfectly sweet and left her struggling not to whip out her fan to hide her face behind it. Lalasa and Tobe were also there, to Kel's surprise: Lalasa because Yuki had commissioned her for her wedding dress and Tobe because Daine had allowed that his hard work had earned him a break. Besides, as Tobe so eloquently pointed out, "How could I miss Peachblossom's squeaky toy's wedding?" Kel had to admit to seeing his point.

"What did you call my Yamani blossom?" Neal asked indignantly.

"Sorry, sir. Ye must've misheard. I said Peachblossom's squeaky toy. That's you, o'course," Tobe answered, grinning blithely.

Neal sputtered at that, something about the lack of civility of some horses and their people, conveniently forgetting his past infatuation with a certain Wildmage. Dom silenced him with a good-natured clap on the shoulder and a change of subject.

The next two days after their arrival—the only two days until the wedding—passed in a flurry of preparation. Kel saw a lot of fabric and very little of Dom, whom she understood had his own fittings to endure. Granted, hers and all the bridesmaids' were a much more fussy affair, but she had hoped at least to see Dom. After all, he was terribly easy on the eyes.

Alas, it was not to be. But that is not to say that she wasn't ecstatic that Lalasa was there to lend expert and comprehensive advice about color, style, material, and everything else dress-related. Plus, she took care not to jab Kel with any of her innumerable pins. And Kel knew she could trust Lalasa with such matters, but at the end of the day—literally—Kel still preferred her own simple sense of style.

"But I'm confident you'll look absolutely stunning in this perfect shade of rose pink, my lady," Lalasa argued exuberantly.

Undoubtedly the only thing that Kel had ever given up on was trying to get Lalasa to call her Kel, just Kel. It was a cause abandoned some time ago, Lalasa having grown just as steadfast and stubborn as the mistress that encouraged that growth. "Thank you, Lalasa," Kel replied instead, not for the first time, "but—"

"But no buts, my lady," Lalasa interrupted sternly. "You've already told me you like this style of dress. So please, at least try it on in rose, Lady Kel. I saved this shade just for you. I promise you won't be disappointed."

Kel sighed and gave in. It was just trying on, anyway. She could put it on, pretend to mull it over, and just say she didn't like it.

She let Lalasa help her into the dress, which was positively flowing. The wrapped style of the layered sheer fabric lent the wearer an ethereal look. There was no denying that it was, to say the least, elegant and beautiful. Kel wasn't so sure about how it would look on herself, but when Lalasa was done and Kel came to the mirror, she also couldn't deny that it suited her well. Better than well. She resigned to the fact that she could not lie to Lalasa and say she didn't like it.

"Brilliant, isn't it, Lady Kel," Lalasa said, beaming with pride.

"Yes," Kel breathed, unable to believe it herself. "Indeed it is."

* * *

The day of Neal and Yuki's wedding dawned as bright and clear over Queenscove as the day they had arrived from Masbolle. The ceremony, which would begin at seven in the evening, was to be in the ballroom, the largest room in the castle. Even last night the room was already being prepared: all the cleaning, decoration, furniture arrangement, beverage selection, and cooking that needed to be done made the house nearly burst with activity.

After the fifth bell past noon, Kel went to check on Neal. She had not yet donned her rose pink bridesmaid gown, having come from a meeting with Yuki and Kel's fellow bridesmaids Shinko and Lady Haname noh Ajikuro. Kel would ready herself later. But Neal would be in the middle of it right now.

If Kel thought it her duty as best friend to assist in matters of the heart, tonight someone beat her to it. She found Neal sitting forward, hunched over with this elbows on his knees, raking his hands through his hair, crinkling his crisp shirtsleeves in an attempt to roll them up. In the chair opposite him sat Dom, who looked up and smiled radiantly at Kel after she knocked and came in. Neal turned slightly in his chair and, seeing Kel, breathed a sigh of relief and sat back, though his face lost not a single line of anxiety.

"Neal," Kel began warily, with a glance at Dom, "How are you holding up?"

That was decidedly the wrong thing to say. At this Neal returned to his original position. "No," he groaned, after much scrubbing of his face.

Dom kicked him gently. "That doesn't even answer the question."

"What does, these days, anyway?" Neal shot back, but to no one in particular. "Everything is uncertain. The world might as well be going in reverse. Who really has _answers_ anymore? Who knows _anything_ for that matter?" Kel figured he was only babbling, albeit very nervously and very dramatically. "Is marriage right for me, at this time in my life, or have we chosen an absolutely catastrophic date for it? Should it have been on a different day, or at a different location, or, or... I mean, ha!" He seemed suddenly to notice Dom and Kel before him. "My cousin and—and my best friend. Who knows? Maybe the world _is_ going in reverse."

"Hey," Dom chided, mock-sternly, "how is this about us now?"

" _Us_ ," Neal repeated, clearly flabbergasted by the pronoun. "I can't—I just can't—"

"Neal, listen to me," Kel interrupted, having enough of Neal's nerves. She had pulled up another chair in front of Neal and now she reached across and grasped Neal's hands, which were on their way up to rake his hair yet again. "Take a deep breath, Neal, and I'll make you some green tea."

Neal's cupboards were stocked with the stuff, part of his marriage gift from Yuki. The entire package consisted of all kinds of things from Yamani culture, including a number of novels translated into Common for Neal's reading pleasure, paintings and small sculptures, green tea, and the paraphernalia needed to make it in the traditional Yamani manner.

Kel took out these things now and proceeded to make enough for three. She figured that the tea ceremony would make Neal feel more comfortable with his coming union with his Yamani bride and her culture. Neal had told her he liked green tea, though it would never beat the black tea typically served in the palace in Corus. Or a nice, soothing willow tea. Kel suspected that Neal would always associate the taste of green tea with the homeland of his darling Yuki, whom Kel knew he loved deeply, however "uncertain" he sounded at the moment.

Either way, it was true that, if nothing else, green tea held a sentimental place in Neal's heart. Kel herself enjoyed making the tea almost as much as drinking it. Listening idly to Neal and Dom's chatter (but mostly Dom's, not because she was biased but because Neal mostly only made noncommittal noises in response), she beat the liquid to a slight froth. After distributing the tea into three handleless mugs, Kel brought them over to Neal and Dom, who was saying to his cousin, "—need to mull it over. It's a permanent decision."

"Here we are," Kel announced. She was relieved to find that Neal no longer looked like a complete emotional wreck. She was also very conscious of Dom's fingers brushing against hers as she handed him his tea. "Thank you, Kel," he said softly, looking up at her and taking the mug in both hands.

The trio sat in silence for a few minutes, as befitted the ceremony, sipping the tea and letting their thoughts drift. Kel watched Neal closely over the rim of her mug, looking for signs that he was calming down. The anxiety lines on his face smoothed out, but he was still tapping his foot to some rapid, unheard rhythm.

"So." Kel broke the silence. "Neal. Tell me something, will you? Could you bear to live another day of your life without being married to Yuki?"

"What?" Neal exclaimed. "No!"

"Well, there you go." Kel finished off her tea. "All your anxieties about this not being the absolute perfectest loveliest luckiest day to have a wedding are for naught. You would marry Yuki today anyway."

"But what if today is cursed in some arcane calendar? Have you heard of the Dark Apocalypse?"

"Both your family and Yuki's have scoured all the variations of the calendar throughout the Eastern Lands. You know that. There's nothing to worry about. Today is perfectly opportune." Kel regarded him affectionately. "Neal, she loves you too, in case you hadn't noticed."

"She braves your poetry," Dom spoke up. "Anyone capable of that must really love you, Neal."

"Not to mention she gave you her _shukusen_ ," Kel added. "You know what that means in Yamani culture. How are you forgetting all of this now? Really, Neal?"

"Okay, okay," Neal sighed finally, defeated. "It's not that, it's—" He brought his fists down on his knees in a new nervous gesture. "I can't do this," he said finally, getting up with such force that his poor chair almost tipped over completely.

Dom frowned and leaned toward Kel to whisper, "I think we should get a married man in here."

Kel took a deep breath and looked over worriedly at Neal, who was now pacing in earnest. Dom stood up and went to him, gathering up Neal's suit jacket from the back of said chair. Kel watched as Dom threw it over his shoulder and walked over to Neal, helping him smooth out his shirtsleeves. Dom carefully shook out Neal's jacket, which was a hybrid of the formal Tortallan dinner jacket and the formal Yamani kimono for men. Neal's cousin helped him shrug into it. Kel was a little surprised to find how well it suited (no pun intended) him. Neal looked like a true fusion of both cultures.

"I suppose it's a good thing you sent away the footmen," Dom was saying. "This way, I can bug you without being looked at funny." He grinned momentarily, to which Neal responded with a shaky, half-hearted grin of his own. Dom adjusted Neal's collar, then added the rich forest green cravat that went tied around it. "You look almost as dashing as I do when I wake up in the mornings," Dom went on, industriously tucking the cravat in place. "Just kidding, Meathead, _relax_. Alright, you look way better than I ever will, how's that? It's the truth!

"And—" Dom continued, unbothered by Neal's silence, "you've got a woman out there who loves you. Loves you dearly, I daresay no matter what you wear. Admittedly, there is her closest friend, Her Royal Highness, but she approves of you. They all do." Dom paused and looked Neal square in the face, all traces of joking pretense gone. "You can't still be nervous if Her Royal Highness— _and_ His Royal Highness, for that matter, give you their blessings." He chucked Neal lightly under his chin, as he used to do so many years ago, when both of them were children. "Come on, Neal. Tell me what's really going on."

Neal looked a little better, but only a little. He sighed resignedly. "Her family..."

At this, Dom's eyebrows drew together. "What about them?"

"They... they'll never see her again, will they? Unless she were to visit them in the Islands herself."

"They gave you their blessing," Kel pointed out, coming over.

"But only after Her Highness informed them that she had given hers," Neal replied. "I've never met them, and I'm afraid their grandkids will never meet them. Will never know them."

So that was Neal's real worry. Kel found it remarkably, though unsurprisingly, mature and foresighted of Neal. She knew he had grown up, more than any other time, during the war, and his sarcastic, dramatic pretense was nothing more than a show. But she also realized that if these were Neal's true pre-wedding anxieties, he had nothing to worry about.

"Neal." It was Dom who broke the uneasy silence following the gravity of Neal's words. "That's quite some time in the future..."

"It's not as if you don't have to plan ahead, too. I know your mother's designs on your future. We all do."

Dom, silenced, looked down and away.

"Admittedly," Kel conceded, "I hadn't thought of that particular occurrence. But haven't you two been planning to return to the Isles after the wedding?"

Neal sighed again. He looked grim. "Yuki and her family had a—a falling out, of sorts, before she left. It ended in quite a mess. Her parents, her father specifically, ordered her never to come back to Yaman until she found herself a proper noble Tortallan husband."

"Queenscove is one of only four ducal houses in Tortall," Kel reasoned. "You're a decorated knight, and the heir to Queenscove. What could be more proper than that?"

Color was returning to Neal's face. At this, he gave a brief little smile, but it was a real one. "I just worry about my— _our_ children. I don't want them to grow up with a part of their family, a part of themselves, their heritage, missing from the picture. That's all. I'm sorry if it seems silly to worry about now."

"Not all problems have solutions. At least not right away, that is," Kel told him gently. He finally seemed to be regaining a state of some composure. "And I'm sure Yuki will tell them all about their grandparents and the land she grew up in."

"And there's you," Neal added, to Kel's surprise.

"Well, yes," replied Kel, "and it's not silly at all to think about these things. Though I wish you'd've chosen a better time for it!"

"I know. I know, you two often pull me out before—before anything bad happens." Then Neal slowly grinned his old grin, and pointed at Dom. "It's your turn next!"

"How," Dom exclaimed, breaking his silence, "is this about me now?"

The other two only laughed, though Kel a bit nervously, and the air finally lightened around them. Neal felt well enough now to shoo them both from his room, claiming something akin to "a groom's job is never done." As Dom and Kel left his room, they could hear him muttering to himself, "Right. Just one more step into the unknown. How much worse can it be?"

"Is it just me, or has his anxiety been replaced by the morbs?" Dom asked, once they were in the corridor outside.

"I have a feeling he's only been letting it sit in his brain for a little too long," said Kel.

"'Sit' is a little inaccurate, isn't it? 'Run wild' is more fitting."

Kel cracked a smile and gave him a gentle push. "Don't tease, Dom. He's actually right."

"I know." Slowly they walked on in comfortable silence. "I still don't know how you do it, Kel," Dom remarked after a while, shaking his head.

"Do what?"

"Make everyone feel at ease." He smiled at her again, making her pulse speed up. "It must be a natural talent."

"You have it, too," Kel said. At his surprised look, she hesitated only a moment before continuing. "When I first met you, when I was a squire, I believe I thought that that was your main charm. Making people around you feel comfortable no matter the situation. You made me feel better on that first day."

"I never knew this before," Dom remarked, with genuine surprise. Then he raised an eyebrow. "So, 'main charm'? Has it changed, in your sagacious perspective, milady?"

Kel looked him over thoughtfully, her eyes sweeping him from crown to sole. Then she replied casually, "No. It's more or less the same for me."

Instead of joking or flirting, either of which she expected he would do, Dom simply shrugged. "Well, I couldn't make Neal comfortable just now. Not like you could."

His modesty honestly shocked her speechless. But pleasantly. Very pleasantly.

As they walked on, Dom pulled her into a darker, less frequented hallway. They stood in silence, face to face, before Dom began to speak again. "He, ah," Dom grasped for the right words, then chuckled softly. "Neal. He reminds me of Nolann."

It was the first time Dom had ever mentioned any of his brothers to her. She hadn't wanted to ask him, aware that the pain from their absence was still a fresh wound. The vulnerability written all over his face silenced her even now. Kel waited sympathetically, pulling him closer in the darkness.

"He—Neal, that is—took me by surprise today." Dom spoke haltingly, with a faraway look in his eyes as he fixed them on her. "Talking about the future... the whole 'what now?' of life. My brother Nolann was much the same, though he was more consistent about it." Kel wondered if Dom had ever voiced this to anyone else. Ever remembered him to someone else as a way to let him go. "He was always looking after us, even Gavin, our eldest brother. Telling us to think about our futures before we did anything stupid, asking us what we wanted to do in the world when we were older. I was never good at that. I was always quite single-minded." He breathed a deep sigh. "I suppose I wonder what kind of advice he would've given Neal just now. He and Neal were pretty close."

"I think we did alright, considering," Kel replied quietly, a small smile gracing her lips.

He seemed to come back to himself then, and really looked at her. A true tenderness filled his eyes before he lowered them to lean toward her for a kiss. She closed the distance eagerly, reaching up to twine her hands in his hair. This kiss, their first since arriving in Queenscove, was just as magical as their very first. One of his hands went to cradle her head, the other to her back, pulling her closer against him.

"I must say," Dom whispered when they broke apart, "that I can't wait to see you in that rose pink gown tonight. Should make up quite nicely for the time we've been apart, I think."

"How do you know about that?" Kel demanded sharply.

"Well, you didn't exactly forbid Lalasa from telling anybody," Dom replied smugly, obviously pleased with himself. "A man has his way of... finding out things."

"But why would you want to know that? Couldn't you have just waited a few more hours to see it for yourself? You know, to be surprised?"

"Oh, I will be, lady knight," Dom said, "and pleasantly so." At the look on her face, he said soberly, "Don't look so peeved, Kel, Lalasa announced it to her friends, an announcement that I just happened to overhear. She seemed to think it a great achievement that she got you to wear pink, though I've no idea why."

"The sly fox," muttered Kel. "The dress was gorgeous. And I didn't even know it was a trick. It really didn't take that much for me to like it."

"Which shows how much of a mastermind she is," Dom said, grinning. "You really have to give it to her."

* * *

The sixth bell of the evening came and went, and the massive Queenscove ballroom looked nothing less than splendid. Guests had begun pouring into the room, which was liberally garlanded with fresh _sakuras_ and orchids alike. At the front of the room, crimson ribbons embroidered in gold threaded through every gap in the glimmering white altar, which stood prominently. Before the altar was a gleaming hardwood floor for dancing. An aisle down the middle visibly separated two sections of chairs, which were arranged not in straight but curved rows, enabling easier viewing. On one side of the altar, the band was set up, and on the other, three Mithran priests stood before a table, which was laden with their ceremonial articles.

The room itself, located on the second floor, was grand, made even more so by the preparations done by the Queenscove staff. The curtains, placed at intervals around the circular room wherever there was a window or a balcony, were gradient green and gold and billowed naturally. The rich mahogany of the floor and walls gave the room a warm feel, and the flowering designs carved into the ceiling were highly ornate. As Kel entered the room, with Dom on her arm, she thought she couldn't remember the ballroom in the palace looking this marvelous.

"It's those damn curtains," Dom murmured, shaking his head. Tonight he was wearing the customary black, white, and silver as Neal's best man, but he had a miniature Yamani flag stitched in red onto his tunic. The ensemble drew her eyes even more than they'd been during Raoul and Buri's wedding. The difference was only because now she was secure in the knowledge that she could look all she pleased. "They make any room look good," he was saying. "But of course—" he bowed deeply to her—"so do you, my lady."

Kel wasn't sure which action turned heads in the ballroom: Dom's bow or her entrance. Whichever it was, it prompted many of her friends to materialize out of the crowds and call as they walked to her. Faleron, Owen (with Lady Margarry in tow), Esmond, Seaver, Tobe, Roald, and Shinko joined her and Dom as they moved into the room.

"Kel!" Owen, of course, got to her first. "So glad you're here. This is Lady Margarry, my wife. Marg, dear, this is Lady Knight Keladry of Mindelan, the one I was telling you about!"

Lady Margarry of Jesslaw was petite woman, but she was nearly Owen's height in her heels. She was very pretty, and her face bore a becoming sprinkling of freckles across her cheeks. She shared her father's steady brown gaze, but none of its coldness. In that gaze, Kel could see how Owen had fallen in love: a lively enthusiasm lit the lady's eyes in a way that reminded Kel nothing of her stoic former training master and commanding officer.

"Hello, Lady Margarry, it's wonderful to finally meet you," Kel said with a smile.

"Lady Knight Keladry, of course! I've heard many good things about you, chiefly from my husband and my father," the lady replied amicably.

"And Owen has told us much about you," Kel returned, charmed. "And as I'm sure you've discovered, he can be quite fervent in the telling."

"Yes, I have," Lady Margarry said with a significant look at her husband.

Owen only smiled fondly at his wife before being caught up with introducing her to his other friends. Tobe, wearing a crisp white shirt and a deep green tunic, went to Kel and she bent to embrace him, remembering her conversation with Dom that night on the balcony. _You know, all his training and success wouldn't have happened had he not met you_ , he'd said _._ And how he'd added in a quiet, serious tone, _I think a lot of us feel the same way about you, Kel._ In retrospect, Kel understood now what he was trying to convey to her that night. That she'd saved his life and made him a better person. Changed him, and many, many others, for the better. But only if that was true, she told herself; she remained reluctant to believe that the impact she had on others was quite so significant. Nonetheless, the thought that others might believe it surged through her suddenly, until she felt quite overwhelmed by it. Still, her faithful Yamani mask held and she was able to get through greeting all her old friends without a hitch.

After conferring with Shinko about Yuki and their shared bridesmaid duties, Kel was also reunited with Duke Baird and introduced to Duchess Wilina and Lady Jessamine, Neal's mother and sister. It warmed her heart to see Dom greet his uncle and aunt with familiarity and tease his cousin as he might a precious younger sister. Looking around, Kel spotted Merric in the crowd, and felt a sudden twinge of sadness in her heart. She and Merric had agreed to remain friends after their split, but conversation was always slightly awkward at best. However, she was determined at least to say hello, if he would not; besides, regardless of their relationship now, he had always been more socially withdrawn than she.

Kel continued to scan the ballroom for more familiar faces. That was when she also spotted another—very different—redhead in the crowd. The Lioness.

Dom followed her line of sight. He raised an eyebrow, but only said mildly, "I hear she's famous." Kel gave him a look in reply.

As the seven o'clock bell drew closer, people began finding their seats. Eventually, a hush fell throughout the room. Kel, in her place beside Shinko and Haname near the altar, glanced at Neal's groomsmen across from her. There was Roald, who gave her a tiny smile of encouragement; Merric, who met her gaze only briefly; and Dom, who winked at her ever so subtly. At last, the doors in the back of the ballroom eased open.

In the doorway stood Neal, in the sleek wedding clothes she had seen him in earlier. There were differences to his appearance, though. His hair was combed and slicked back neatly, the anxiety lines were gone from his face, leaving it a careful, uncharacteristic blank, and he had donned boots polished so smoothly they caught the light as he stepped forward.

The musicians began to play the traditional Tortallan wedding tune. Kel couldn't help but let a smile cross her face at the sight of her best friend—getting married! She wanted to let him see her happiness for him; indeed, he cracked a nervous smile upon seeing her near the altar. There was a certain bliss in shared happiness that Kel counted herself both fortunate and blessed to feel.

Moments later, there were more figures at the door through which Neal had come. Complete silence fell. The guests looked now upon the future duchess of Queenscove.

Two ladies-in-waiting flanked Yuki, who was garbed most extravagantly in red and white. From her massive headdress hung a veil that billowed around her head and shoulders. Her dress was an ornate, layered ensemble made of crimson and snow-white Yamani silks woven in the wrapped style of Yamani dresses. She wore no kimono, and Tortallan influence could be seen in the puffed shoulders on her sleeves and the magnificent train of her dress, which gave Yuki the look of a great lady, a title she no doubt deserved. Lalasa might have outdone herself, but Yuki _owned_ that dress.

Kel had not yet seen her friend's full outfit. So as Yuki began her procession toward the altar to the traditional Yamani wedding theme, Kel gaped with the rest, but none did as openly and with a look so full of love as Neal. In this room full of people, the onlookers seemed to fall away as if it were only Yuki and Neal. Neal and Yuki.

Kel thought she'd never seen a moment more beautiful. She scanned the faces of the crowd: there was Lucetta and Madrigol, precious little Rosalee bouncing on their knees; Lady Darinia, sitting with Baird and Wilina, beaming proudly; Jessamine applauding ecstatically beside Balduin; grinning Faleron, sitting next to a daughter of Naxen; Seaver and best friend Esmond, real smiles crossing their faces; and Owen and Margarry, beside themselves in their own brand of excitement.

The ceremony was as close to perfect as ever could be imagined. The groomsmen and bridesmaids performed their duties flawlessly. There was not a single hitch. Every time Kel looked upon Neal and Yuki as the Mithran priests took turns in leading the ceremony, she felt as if she were observing an intimate moment.

"... As you cross the threshold between singularity and unity," the priest leader was saying, "know that it is your responsibility to care for the other as if it were your own life you guarded. In health and sickness, in strength and weakness, in duty and desire, you will be as one until naught but death separates you."

The priest paused, letting his words reverberate in the great hall. By now, Wilina's eyes were shining with unshed tears, her husband's arm around her. Kel was moved, but she wasn't weeping. Yet she found herself struggling to hold back tears with how the next words were uttered:

"Sir Nealan of Queenscove, do you take Lady Yukimi noh Daiomoru to be your lawfully wedded wife?"

"With all my heart, I do."

"And Lady Yukimi noh Daiomoru, do you take Sir Nealan of Queenscove to be your lawfully wedded husband?"

"Until my last breath... I do."

It came time to exchange rings. At the priests' beckoning, Dom and Shinko stepped forward. Slowly, and more delicately than Kel had ever seen Neal treat anything, he took Yuki's hand and slipped the sparkling ruby onto her finger, his hand lingering lovingly for a moment before she did the same with his silver wedding band.

"I pronounce you Husband and Wife," the minister declared gravely. "You may kiss the bride."

Neal, his hands trembling ever so slightly, lifted the veil over and away from Yuki's face, which now bore no Yamani mask to speak of whatsoever. He gathered her against him and kissed her soundly.

The crowd erupted in cheers. Neal and Yuki pulled apart for a moment, looking dazed but immensely pleased. Yuki recovered first, for she seized Neal's face between her hands and kissed him again. By now, the people were on their feet in joyous uproar.

Neal led Yuki by the hand onto the floor before them. It was a Yamani tradition that the bride and groom have the first dance. The music started to play, and Kel thought she'd never seen Neal and Yuki this happy.

The song was popular in the Isles for a new couple's first dance. Kel knew the words, and she sang them now, in her heart:

_As the stream flows into a river_

_And the river into an ocean,_

_So our hearts will grow together,_

_And all the years to come_

_Will only drive us closer._

_And no matter the pain_

_No matter the fear_

_Nothing shall divide us,_

_For our Love stands strong as Death._

The song concluded, and guests began pairing up. Kel knew it was the beginning of a long, celebratory night. But she had the inkling that this would be different, different even from Raoul and Buri's wedding, which, though a happy event, was in truth stifled by war and the reality that people were suffering nearby. Roald and Shinko's royal wedding, however, which was postponed to the end of the Scanran War, was indeed a spectacle on a beautiful day...

"Milady?" Kel turned and found not a courtier at her elbow but a smiling Dom. "If I might have this dance?"

Kel let him lead her to the floor, where many couples were already swinging with the music. Dom held her close, though his hand was placed gently on her waist. Kel smiled into his eyes, and he twirled her, making her dress fan out in a perfect circle.

"Well, what do you think?" Dom asked her after a while.

"You dance beautifully, Dom."

"Wh—oh, thank you, Kel. Unfortunately, you're not telling me anything I don't already—no!" Dom exclaimed, laughing at Kel's suddenly belligerent expression. "You know what I mean. Neal."

"He looked better, I noticed," Kel said honestly, resuming the steps to the dance. "I guess seeing Yuki in all her splendor tonight must have done the trick. I think they'll manage just fine, even with Neal's imagination."

"I have to say, I agree," Dom responded. "Though I pity my new cousin-in-law."

After a few more songs, dinner was set up on the side of the room. The entire night passed in a flurry of food, dancing, drinking, and laughing. And there was no hiding the love in the air. Reserved and regal Duchess Wilina wept openly as she embraced her son and daughter-in-law. Neal and Yuki themselves could not take their eyes off each other. Permanent smiles seemed to be plastered onto their faces. And then there were all of their family and friends who had found love: Roald and Shinko, Haname and a handsome heir to Macayhill, Jessamine and Balduin, Owen and Margarry. Kel relished in the joy they had all found despite the pain and loss of the war, and she was pleasantly jolted to include herself among those she knew to have found that joy.

Her eyes lingered on Dom's receding figure as he left her to grab more drinks. She did not realize she'd been staring until a familiar voice near her said quietly:

"That's a good one, all right."

Kel turned and saw none other than the Lioness lounging on a table nearby, looking up at her with something akin to approval. She was wearing a wine red gown that made her red hair more fiery than ever. Kel moved to sit beside her. No matter how often the two lady knights met, Kel couldn't help but look upon the Lioness with a degree of hero worship that would not go away. Now Kel turned to her and asked her what she meant.

"Sergeant Domitan, Lord of Masbolle," Alanna replied. "A good soldier, and an excellent leader. I was there last year with Third Company, at the Battle of Anak's Eyrie. He kept going, even though he had lost nearly half of his squad. It was brutal, that day." The lady knight sat back, a hard glint in her eyes. "I just remember that he stayed with the rest of them until the battle was completely over. I assume that privately he grieved those lost, but he showed the rest of his men a brave face. I could tell, it gave them hope in that bleak, gods-curst war."

Alanna paused, then looked Kel in the eye. "There's nothing that a soldier needs more than for his or her commander to appear put-together, but gods know—and I know you know, too—that that is one difficult feat."

Kel nodded in understanding. Of course she knew. It was what Lord Raoul and then Lord Wyldon had prepared her to do. Shoulder the burden and carry on.

"So I suppose, in a way," Alanna continued, "that leaving the Own behind will not be so difficult for him. But, of course, there will be other difficulties instead."

"He's caught between his duty to the Own and his duty to his family," Kel said. "He knows he cannot have both."

Alanna smiled sadly. "I had to make a similar decision many years ago, after I had earned my knighthood. Whether to be all warrior or to be all woman. The difference is that I _can_ have both. It will be harder for him." Then her smile lost its sorrow. "Though I believe he may have found someone who can make it easier for him."

Dom was coming back now. Kel thought she could always spot him from across the room, with his easy smile and his gliding stride. Now she said wistfully, "He's said much the same to me."

Both ladies stood as Dom approached, and as he dropped a bow before Alanna, she mouthed "he'll do" to Kel and winked.

"My lady," Dom said formally to the Lioness. "It's a pleasure to see you again."

"The same goes for you, Sergeant. But, if I'm not mistaken, _this_ —" she gestured Kel forward— "is your lady, not I. If you take my meaning."

Surprised, Dom blushed and looked at Kel. "Yes, she is. That is, if she will let me be her man."

Now it was Kel's turn to redden. Both pairs of eyes were on her. She had not expected their exchange of pleasantries to diverge quite in this direction. Nonetheless, the answer was already on her lips.

"From this day forward, you are my man, Domitan of Masbolle."

"Now go," Alanna said gruffly. "You are both so young, but you have been through so much. Our lives are short; we must take pleasure in every moment we can. And that includes tonight."

"Will we see you tomorrow?" Kel asked.

Alanna nodded. "I'll be around."

They watched in comfortable silence as the Lioness drifted to another part of the room. Handing her a glass of _champagne_ , Dom said casually, "So, does that mean that there is more fun to be had tonight? With—" he raised an eyebrow—"just the two of us?"

"More than just tonight, I should hope," she replied, taking his hand as they wandered back toward the main crowd near the dance floor.

Once again they joined their friends, and for many more hours they talked, and laughed, and danced, and drank. Kel said hello to Merric, and at the very least, their loosened tongues made conversing easier. Kel took care not to get too drunk, but the same could not be said about some of her friends. But even Faleron's too-loud singing, or Seaver's wild dancing, or Esmond's amorous advances toward a coquettish young Nond girl—all of which they might or might not regret in the morning—Kel hoped to remember it all. _Our lives are short; we must take pleasure in every moment we can_ , the Lioness had said. She ought to know, Kel thought. She wanted to remember: Dom's arms about her as they swayed to a romantic Tortallan waltz, how she rested her head against his shoulder and breathed his scent of sweet _cologne_ and _champagne_ , the looks on Neal's and Yuki's faces as they took pleasure in simply being in the same room, how beautiful they looked while dancing, all the jokes and stories shared across the dinner table, warning Tobe off of too much alcohol, how Dom twirled and spun around a gleefully shrieking Rose, laughter and love in his eyes. And then she remembered how, in the past, she had despaired, many times over, of ever finding happiness like this in her life.

She was pulled out of her reverie by the sound of arguing. She looked up, and found—of course, it was Dom and Neal. Those around them seemed only amused, however, but Kel decided to listen in anyway.

"—what the Dark Apocalypse is, Dom. Did you know that they say that the sky purples over and demons fill the sky on—"

"Who are 'they'? And no, I've never heard something so outrageous. Purple, really? What makes it that color, do you suppose? No more bruise balm in the Peaceful Realms?"

"The dying of the sun, you numskull. Mithros, sometimes I wonder what's between your ears other than—"

"Watch your tongue, Meathead. I would hate to have the most uncontrollable urge to cut it out of your head on your wedding day—"

Kel shook her head. Sometimes Dom didn't know how similar he was to his meatheaded cousin. Both were undoubtedly outspoken and had the exact same streak of infuriating stubbornness. And sarcasm. And physically, they didn't look too different either, Kel thought, pondering that nose and that specific pair of expressive eyebrows. They looked like brothers, and indeed they were like brothers to one another, though not even the other could replace the brothers they each had lost. But even if hearts could never heal completely, at least in theirs the other would live to ease the pain. Kel had to hope this was true. She had to believe that their hearts were on the mend.


End file.
